That Crazy, Deadly Thing Called Love
by Autumn Dawn
Summary: Chris meets Joy, a nineteen year-old girl, with a secret from her world that will eventually devastate them both.
1. Default Chapter

Chris didn't understand how things had come to be like this. He hadn't meant to fall in love with her. He had just been lonely when he came to the past. He wanted to be with someone. Then he met Joy. That's when he knew he would be lonely forever if he couldn't have her.

He met her at Golden Gate Park. He usually didn't go anywhere except the manor. There wasn't really anywhere else to go. But the weather was too nice that day to waste at the house.

He first saw her while she was looking at the flowers in the park. He stopped to look at her, and realized he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She turned around and he was still staring. If it had been anyone else, she would've shot him a disgusted look and walked away, but she sensed there was something...different about him.

He smiled as he looked away, then looked back at her. "Hi."

She smiled as she looked down at the ground, then back at him. "Hi."

He moved forward and stuck out his hand. "I'm Chris."

She reached out her hand and shook his. "I'm Joy."

"Walk with me?"

She nodded, still smiling. "Sure."

They had barely gotten in a step when, from out of nowhere, an energy ball flew towards the pair of them.

"Watch out!" Chris yelled as he pulled Joy out of the way. The energy ball hit the sidewalk and the contact spot became black. Then a second one flew from behind a tree, aiming to hit Joy square in the stomach.

Without thinking about it, Chris orbed, holding Joy by the arms. The ball smoldered the grass where it hit. Chris orbed back in.

The warlock that was hidden behind the tree became visible. Joy waved her hand, and he exploded in a ball of flame and ash.

Chris turned to her with his jaw dropped. "Wha--?"

"Do you think that's the only one?" Joy asked, looking around the park. A few people were staring at them.

"Wha--?"

Joy turned to look at him. "What are you staring at?"

"You!" Chris exclaimed.

Joy crossed her arms. "What? Like you've never seen magic before? You orbed us away from those energy balls. I know, I was there. You're a—what do you call it—a Whitelighter."

"And you're a...?"

"Fairy," she responded. "Princess, to be exact."

"A fairy?!" Chris exclaimed. "But aren't you supposed to be really small? And have wings?"

She shook her head. "No, we can look like humans if we want to. But we still carry all our powers."

"But you look so...casual."

"Well, if I walked around in a long, flowing gown, that might attract more attention, then if I wear jeans and a T-shirt. Am I right?"

Chris shrugged. "So, if you're the Princess of Fairies, am I supposed to be bowing down to you right now?"

"Oh, God, I wouldn't speak to you if you did. I hate all that stuff."

Chris took a good look at the girl standing in front of him. She couldn't have been more than nineteen.

She had straight, layered dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders and looked like the softest thing in the world. Chris almost reached his hand out to touch it, but restrained himself.

She had cornflower blue eyes, with a hint of green of them. They were the most magical and beautiful eyes that he had ever seen.

She was tall and slim; her clothes fit her body well.

For a second, he imagined her in a long, sparkling white dress, with a tiara of diamonds on her head. He just decided that she would wear diamonds. And delicate transparent wings beating in the light breeze, making her fly higher and higher, to someplace he couldn't see.

Joy suddenly became uncomfortable with his relentless stare. She looked down on the ground.

Chris blinked. "Sorry. I just—"

She shook her head. "It's okay." This time, she held out her hand. "Walk with me?" He took her hand, and held it tightly as they walked all around the park.

It was while talking to this girl--or princess of fairies, as the case was—that Chris realized something. Joy was special; one of a kind. And he knew that he wanted her to be his. Forever.


	2. Growing Feelings

Chris told Joy about Bianca, his former fiancée. Joy started to cry when Chris told her Bianca was dead.

"I'm so sorry," she said, through her tears. "That must have been so terrible for you. I'm sorry, Chris."

"Thank you," he replied, still amazed at her reaction. He thought she would've acted differently. But she was so...sympathetic, so sad for him.

He asked her if she had any past loves. She shook her head. Her response shocked him.

"I'm not allowed to love. Well, the only thing I'm allowed to fall in love with is another fairy. I guess to keep the throne going. But, I hate all the male fairies. They're such assholes, always staring at me and trying to impress me. It's pathetic. It's so they will be made prince and eventually, king. I don't want any of those assholes sharing the throne with me. So, I've been looking for humans to fall in love with. They're so much more...there's more things about them to fall in love with."

Chris smiled at her remark, then frowned. "But you're not allowed to fall in love with a human?"

"No. If the royalty found out, something terrible would happen. If I fell in love with a human, everything would turn out bad."

"Tell me what would happen."

As she told him the horrors of her world, Chris had a weird feeling grow inside him. He wanted to help her. Make sure that once she fell in love, the other fairy royals would never find out.

But what he didn't know was that Joy was falling in love with him, and he was falling in love with her.

They spent almost everyday together. Talking about things from their past.

Chris told her that he was from the future. He knew this was a valuable secret, but he trusted Joy. She fully understood his reasons for coming back.

She told him how she hated being a fairy, hated more so being a princess.

He asked her what she looked like as a fairy. She replied mysteriously, "Maybe one day, I'll show you."

They had figured out their feelings for one another by the second week that they had spent together.

When they walked, they touched pinky fingers, so it would look like nothing special was happening.

When Joy returned to her world, her mother would ask her what she had been doing so much of in the human world. She would reply that she enjoyed walking around the parks, looking at the flowers and trees.

"Surely looking at flowers could not take all day. So far, you've been gone all day, everyday for two weeks," her mother said suspiciously.

Joy replied simply, "There are a hundred times more flowers than there are parks. And there are a lot of parks."

The Charmed Ones adored Joy. She was beautiful and kind and smart. They understood what Chris was feeling for her. They were relieved when Chris told them that Joy was a fairy. That meant that they could use magic freely in front of her.

Piper listened intently as Joy told her baby care tips. When she asked Joy where she learned all this information, Joy replied, "I have six younger brothers and sisters. All of them were babies at one time. I picked up a few things along the way."

Paige and Phoebe loved Joy for her fashion sense. Even though she was only imitating humans, she had excellent taste. Many shopping sprees occurred. Joy bought nothing, as she had no money, but she lent many fashion tips to the sisters.

"Be wild and crazy. Be beautiful and elegant. Be anything you want to be, as long as you feel comfortable with yourself. Don't ever let a guy tell you what to wear, because he's a guy and he doesn't know what it's like to wear super-short skirts, revealing tops, or high heels. They know nothing about what we have to go through to impress somebody, let alone to be ourselves."

Okay, so her tips were more about self-esteem than fashion. But Paige and Phoebe respected Joy for being her own person. For not letting a man boss her around. They looked at each other and knew that Chris was in for the ride of his life.


	3. Tell Me You Love Me

One day something happened. Neither of them meant for it to, but it just...happened.

Joy and Chris were talking at the manor, about nothing in particular. Suddenly, Joy felt that she could hold in no longer. She leaned forward and gently kissed Chris. A sure sign of feeling. He didn't protest, but kissed her back.

Once she realized what she had done, Joy broke the kiss.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be sorry for that," Chris replied.

"You have no idea what problems we've just created. They're gonna figure it out now. Something horrible will happen. I have to go, before they get more suspicious than they already are."

"Don't go," he said, "Please. Stay."

"I'm sorry," she said again, then she turned to go.

Chris grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. She wheeled around to face him. He grabbed her face in his hands.

"Chris, please," she whispered, tears in her eyes, "Let me go."

"Why don't you love me?" he asked, his voice trembling, "Why am I wrong?" Joy's tears fell from her eyes and slid down Chris' fingers.

"You're not wrong, Chris. You're perfect. I was so lucky to have found you."

"Tell me you love me," he demanded, his voice a little stronger now. "I need to know."

She shook her head. "I can't," she said, "You know what'll happen if they find out. We can't—"

"Then we don't let them find out."

"That's what we've been doing. Trying to keep all of this really quiet. But, we can't keep pretending forever that they won't find out."

"Joy, do you love me? I don't care what happens to me; I need to know. Please...tell me."

Joy leaned forward, her lips almost touching his, and in the smallest of whispers, she told him that she loved him. Then, she backed away and said in her normal voice, "But I'm not allowed to. If the Mazging find out, they will force me to watch you die. Chris, I—I can't...I couldn't bear to watch you die. It would kill me."

When Chris didn't respond, she continued. "Please let me leave. I'll come back, I promise. If you ever need me, you know how to find me."

She held Chris' hand and started to back away. When they were at arm's length apart, she let go. Chris watched as she vanished in a cloud of sparkling dust.

Just then, Piper walked in. "Hey, Chris, where'd Joy go?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She just said she had to leave."

Piper looked at him. Something wasn't right. Chris wouldn't meet her face. "Chris, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Uh, did you need something?"

She shook her head no.

"Okay." With out another word, he orbed.

Piper walked back into the kitchen, where she found Paige and Phoebe.

"Guys, is anything wrong with Chris?"

"Not that I know of." Phoebe answered.

"Oh, come on, Phoebe. You're the empath. You haven't sensed anything that could be wrong with him?"

"Well, I have sensed how much love Joy and Chris have for each other. But I also sense that they're both tense around each other, sort of like they're not allowed to love each other."

"Why do you ask, Piper?" asked Paige.

"Oh, I don't know. I just asked him where Joy went and he got kind of...distant."

"Well, that's our Chris," smiled Phoebe, "I wouldn't worry about it, Piper. Everything's probably fine."


	4. Joy Returns

But things weren't fine. One month passed without any sign of Joy. Chris only stayed at the manor when he was called by the Charmed Ones. He hoped that no one would find out how upset he was about Joy leaving.

One day, Piper called him down to the manor. Uneasily, Chris responded to her call.

"What is it, Piper? What do you need?"

"I don't need anything, Chris. I just wanted to give you something."

Piper went to the cabinet and pulled something out of it. She handed it to Chris. It was a picture frame. Inside was a picture of him and Joy together, both of them smiling widely for the camera. Chris' arms were around Joy's waist and he had placed his chin on her shoulder from behind.

"I thought you might like to have that. It turned out really well."

"Thanks, Piper. This was really...sweet of you."

Chris walked into the hallway, then sat on the stairs. He stared at the picture and tried to remember what it felt like to hold Joy in his arms. But he couldn't. This picture was all he had left of her and he knew it. She would never come back.

Then he felt something. Something inside of him. It wasn't a feeling that was new to him; he'd felt it before. Pain was pulsing inside his chest and he felt light-headed, really dizzy.

Piper heard a sound that came from the hallway. Then she heard a louder sound. When she reached the hallway, she saw broken glass scattered everywhere—the picture frame had shattered—and Chris' motionless body facedown on the floor.

Piper fell to her knees beside him and started to shake him gently. "Chris? Chris? Are you okay?" But Chris didn't move.

"Oh, my God. Leo! I need your help!" In a few seconds, Leo orbed in and was taken back by the sight in front of him.

"Piper, what happened?"

"I don't know, but he's not moving. He's hurt; can you try and heal him?"

Leo nodded and moved toward Chris. He suspended his hands six inches above Chris' body and tried to heal him. But nothing happened.

"I can't. Help me get him to the couch." Piper and Leo lifted Chris to the couch in the living room.

Piper asked, "But he's not dead, is he?" Leo shook his head. "What should we do?"

"I don't know. I'll go find Paige and Phoebe. Maybe they can help us."

Piper nodded as Leo disappeared in a cloud of orbs. A few seconds later, he returned with Paige and Phoebe.

"Oh, my God. What happened?" Paige asked.

"I don't know. I gave him the picture of him and Joy, he walked out into the hallway and five seconds later: _boom. _" Piper responded, "What should we do?"

No one knew.

Then Phoebe said quietly, "What about Joy? Does she know?"

Piper said no. "I didn't even think about her. But she may be able to help us."

The Charmed Ones hurried up to the attic and Phoebe started to flip through the Book of Shadows.

"Phoebe, what are you doing?" Piper inquired.

""I'm looking for how to summon Joy." At her sisters' blank looks, she continued. "Joy is the princess of fairies. There's a spell in here to summon her. Oh, here it is."

The sisters gathered around the book and read the summoning spell.

Princess of Fairies, wise and true 

_Come to me, I summon you._

_Come and help us where we stand,_

Come and help us understand. A cloud of sparkling dust swirled on the attic floor, then Joy appeared in front of them. "Hey guys, what's up?" 

"Uh, Joy, we need your help." Paige began.

"Sure, what is it?"

The Charmed Ones looked at each other. Piper hesitated before speaking. "It's...Chris."

Joy's usually cheerful face hardened, becoming serious and concerned. "What about him? What's wrong?"

"He's hurt...badly," Piper explained, "And Leo couldn't heal him. We thought...maybe you could help him." Without another word, Joy turned and ran down the stairs. Piper, Paige, and Phoebe ran after her.

Joy didn't stop until she reached the living room couch, where she stopped, suddenly frozen in horror.

"Oh, my God." She moved and sat in front of Chris on the floor, her hands over her mouth. "What happened to you? Why are you so hurt?"

"We don't know what happened, Joy." Piper said, moving from the hallway to behind the couch.

"Did you guys notice that he's bleeding?" Joy asked. Apparently not. Everyone started moving toward the couch at this new information. It was true. Blood was seeping through his shirt. Joy unbuttoned the top two buttons and looked at the skin underneath. A large hole was where his heart should have been.

Sudden understanding dawned on Joy. "This is all my fault," she said, "I never should have left."

"What do you mean?" asked Leo.

Joy looked up at him. "His heart's broken. It's my fault. I left him. So he would be safe."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll tell you later. First, I have to help Chris." She took a deep breath and spoke to Chris.

_Let me heal your wounded heart. I am back from our time apart._

The blood disappeared from Chris' shirt and the hole started shrinking until nothing was left. Chris slowly opened his eyes and looked at the person sitting next to him on the floor.

"Joy?" he asked quietly.

"Hey, baby," she said, helping him sit up, "I'm so sorry that this happened. This is all my fault."

"Shh," he whispered, touching her lips lightly with his fingers. Then he moved his face close to hers and kissed her. She didn't try to stop him; she wanted this as much as he did.

Leo and the girls moved out of the room to give them privacy.

Chris' hands moved down Joy's neck, her shoulders, her back, and rested on her waist. Joy placed her hands on Chris' neck, not letting him break away.

They hadn't seen each other in a month. She had missed him so much, knowing how much their time apart was hurting him. She had just wanted to keep him safe from the evil power that was taking over her world. As she kissed him, she wished with all her heart that the Mazging wouldn't find out. But as she wished, she knew that they would. They always found out.

Even though he knew it would put them in danger, the thing he wanted most was to hear her say that she loved him. He knew she did, he just needed to hear it. He understood why she wouldn't say it, though. He understood what she was doing to make sure that the Mazging didn't find out and ruin both of their lives. He couldn't bear to be away from her for more than a day, let alone eternity.


	5. Explaining

Phoebe poked her head in the door. "Are you guys done yet?"

Joy and Chris broke apart. They smiled at Phoebe. That was the first time Chris had smiled in a month.

"Yes, Phoebe, we're done." said Joy. Leo and the girls came back through the door into the living room.

"You two have some explaining to do," Leo said in a business tone.

"What do you want us to explain?" Chris asked.

"Well for starters," Piper began, "Why were you passed out on the floor twenty minutes ago? What happened?"

"I'm so sorry, guys," Joy said, "This is all my fault. I was trying to protect Chris from the Mazging—"

"And that is?" Paige interrupted.

"The royal fairy court. Mazging in the word for punishment in the fairy dialect. Now, none of the other courts before them have been called that. But when the last court term ended, the Mazging took over. I don't think I've ever seen more panic and fear in our world since the Mazging term began."

"But what's this got to do with Chris?" asked Phoebe.

"One of the main laws of our world is that we can't fall in love outside our species. It's stupid, I know, because almost half of the fairies are in love with something else. The law was never really enforced, so nobody was ever punished. But when the Mazging took over, they punished the ones who broke the law."

"What's the punishment?" Piper asked.

Joy looked at Chris, then at Piper. "In short, they force the fairy to watch the person they love die." Phoebe and Paige gaped in horror. Joy continued, "They secure the fairy to a spot and bind their magic, so they can't interfere. Then they torture the fairy's lover until they die. It takes hours, and usually the fairy dies right there too. It devastates them to watch the process, and then they die of a broken heart."

Joy looked at Chris again. "That's why I left. I don't want to watch you die. I was just trying to protect you."

Chris stroked her hand with his fingers. "I know. I just wanted to be with you, and I wasn't thinking of how much you were already giving up to be with me. I'm sorry." Joy smiled.

"Ok, Chris?" Piper began, "You still haven't answered my question. What happened to you that made you pass out?"

"It was the picture you gave me of me and Joy. I looked at that and realized that I couldn't remember what it felt like to hold her. I had spent so much time convincing myself that Joy was going to come back any second and say that we could be together now. But when I saw that picture and realized she wouldn't, it broke my heart."

The light bulb went off in Leo's head. "That's why I couldn't heal you. Emotional pain can't be healed by a whitelighter."

"So all you're trying to do is protect Chris from getting killed by the rulers of your world?" Piper asked. Joy nodded. "Okay, just checking."

Suddenly, Phoebe got an idea. "Guys, I'm just gonna check on something. I'll be right back." She hurried up the stairs, her shoes _clunking _with every step.


	6. Together At Last

A few minutes later, Phoebe returned with the _Book of Shadows. _It was open to a page in the very middle. "Hey, guess what I found?" she said, excitedly. "There's a spell in here that will form a barrier around this house, and no other magic folk will be able to sense anything in this house. It will block the Mazging from finding you two, so you can be together."

Joy couldn't contain her happiness. She sprang up and hugged Phoebe tightly. "Oh, my gosh, Phoebe, thank you so much. I don't know what to say."

"Well, in a minute, you will be able to tell Chris how you feel about him. Ready?" Chris and Joy nodded. Piper and Paige stood up and moved next to Phoebe so they could read the spell.

_Let there be a barrier where these two can be,_

_Where unfriendly eyes cannot see._

_Let them be together inside this home,_

_Let them be together where no evil can roam._

Outside, a clear shield dripped down from the roof and spread itself all around and underneath the house.

"Oh, my God, you guys are the best."

Piper smiled at her. "You two can use my room. Just... make sure you thoroughly wash my sheets when you're done."

Chris reached over and hugged Piper. "I don't know how to thank you."

"Just don't make too much noise and wash my sheets when you're done. You two being able to be together is thanks enough."

Chris let Piper go. He turned around and grabbed Joy's hand. "Shall we?"

She nodded, an expression of complete happiness gracing her face.

They hurried out of the living room, up the stairs, down the hallway into Piper's bedroom. The door slammed shut behind them.

"So," Chris said, smiling, "About that kiss..."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that." Joy said, moving closer to him. "Remind me how we did it again."

He leaned over and their lips met. His right hand rested on her neck; her hands on his shoulders. Her tongue slipped past his lips, and he eagerly met it with his own. When they broke apart for a breath, she said the three words he had wanted to hear more than anything.

"I love you."

He smiled, his life, in that moment was fulfilled.

They couldn't be happier in that moment. The passion that they felt for each other was out in the open. They could finally show their love for one another. And they did.

Joy slipped out of her high-heels and kicked them across the room. They hit the wall, then landed on the floor with a resounding _bang. _Chris slipped out of his own footwear as well.

Joy unbuttoned Chris' shirt and slid it off his shoulders. She ran her hands across his bare chest, and down his back, wanting to know every contour of his body. Then she reached her arms up into the air and he slowly pulled her shirt off. He traced the outline of her body with his index fingers, welcoming every curve so that he could touch more of her.

By the time they had finished undressing each other, they were laying on the bed. In that moment, their lips were locked in a kiss.

Then, it came. The moment when they couldn't wait any longer.

She felt him inside of her. He started working himself over her. Both of them were breathing hard from passion.

After a minute, a expression of pain was set on her face. It was her first time. He slowed himself down.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded, biting her lip.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No," she whispered, "Don't stop. Don't ever stop."

They began to move again. She held on tightly to his shoulders as they moved, as one.

_Passion rules us all...and we obey. What other choice do we have?_

A moan escaped her lips. He silenced it with a kiss. Then they broke it, needing to breathe more than ever as they continued to move.

"I love you, Joy," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too," she breathed.

Then, an explosion of feeling shot through her body. She had never felt more alive. She became disconnected with everything around her. The only thing she acknowledged was him, on top of and inside her.

She opened her eyes, reached her head up and kissed him. She ran a hand through his hair as he pushed her back onto the pillow, breaking the kiss.

He kissed the top of her forehead, her sweat now dotting his lips.

They moved together until, finally, they couldn't move anymore. Exhaustion and pleasure had tired both of them.

He lay beside her on the bed. She moved so that her head rested on his chest. He put his arms around her and stroked the damp hair on her head.

"Joy, listen." She moved her head so she could she his face. "I know the sisters cast that spell, so we couldn't be found. But if something happens, anything at all, you know I'll be there for you, right? And if something bad happens, I promise to protect you."

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Chris. That's really sweet. And...thanks for not being scared about what I am or my situation."

"What do you mean?"

"A lot of others would've ran away when they found out that I'm not allowed to love. But you...you stayed with me, not scared of anything. You just wanted to be with me."

"Because I love you."

She nodded. "I'm eternally grateful that you do."


	7. Step One

Chris and Joy finally got dressed and went downstairs. When the Charmed Ones saw them, they brought the shield down.

"If it's up too long, then the magical folk will really get suspicious," Phoebe explained, "You two were at it for three hours."

Joy smiled. _Never underestimate the power of love_.

Piper clapped her hands together. "So, you two better get working on those sheets."

Chris and Joy brought the sheets down to the laundry room, and threw them in the washer.

They looked at each other, and wanted to say something, but knew they couldn't because the shield was down.

Joy set the timer and closed the lid. They started to walk out of the room, when suddenly, three figures appeared in front of them, blocking the doorway.

Two of them grabbed Chris and shoved him against the wall.

"Chris!" Joy screamed, as the other figure grabbed her.

The Charmed Ones started running toward the laundry room, but by the time they got there, Joy and Chris were gone.

"Oh, God," Paige said, "Looks like the Mazging got them."

"How did they even find out?"

All three of them found the answer at the same time. "The kiss. Right before we put up the shield."

"What do we do?" Piper asked.

"We could scry for them." Phoebe suggested.

"Using what? The only thing we could've used were those sheets they just slept on, and those are in the washer now."

Defeated, Phoebe replied, "You have a point there."

"What did Joy say the Mazging would do if they found out about her and Chris?"

"They're going to kill Chris," Paige answered, "They're gonna make Joy watch as they kill him."

**---------------- **

A Mazging leader chained Chris' hands to a wall of the stone cave they were all confined in. The Mazging looked like ordinary men, obviously bigger and larger than their normal fairy selves were.

The room was lit by hundreds of candles. A display of knives was set up on one of the walls behind the three Mazging leaders. Joy was chained to the wall directly opposite Chris, her hands tied behind her back. She was struggling with her bindings.

"Let us go, please," she begged, "Why are you doing this to us?"

All three of them replied, "You broke the law, Princess Joy. You fell in love with a human."

"Please don't hurt him," Joy pleaded, "Take me instead. Just don't hurt him."

"No!" Chris yelled. "Don't you dare touch her!"

The Mazging turned to Chris. "Or you'll what?" one of them asked, "We've put a bind on all of your powers." He turned back to Joy. "All you have to do, Princess, is sit back and watch the show."

"Please don't hurt him, Francis. Please leave him alone."

The one called Francis ignored her. He turned to the two others. "Carter, Michael. You know what to do. Get this party started."

Carter and Michael walked toward Chris. Carter punched Chris on the side of his head. Joy gasped as Chris' knees buckled and his body tried to fall on the floor. Only he couldn't because he was still chained to the wall.

Then Michael did the same thing Carter had done.

Over and over and over again. They wouldn't stop hitting Chris. Only when Francis snapped his fingers did they desist.

When they moved out of the way, Joy looked at Chris. Already he was bruising. A large gash that cut across his cheek was dripping blood down his face. He could barely stand.

Tears gathered in Joy's eyes. She knew that this was only Step One. There were two more steps to go until she lost Chris forever.


	8. Step Two

"Leo!" Piper called, "Leo, we need your help!"

Leo orbed in front of them. "What's wrong?"

"The Mazging got Joy and Chris. We can't scry for them because we don't have anything of theirs. Can you, I don't know, sense either one of them?"

Leo closed his eyes. After a minute he opened them. "I think I've got Joy. She was easier to sense. She's absolutely terrified right now."

The Charmed Ones looked at one another. Then Phoebe said, "Can you take us to where they are?"

Leo nodded. They all joined hands and he orbed them out of the manor. To the outside of a cave. There was no entrance, only solid stone.

Piper tried to blast it, but she couldn't. "There must be a spell surrounding it."

Something went off in Phoebe's head. "Oh, God. I can feel them. Both of them. Joy's scared to death. And Chris...he's in so much pain."

Piper resumed trying to blast the cave wall open. Again nothing happened.

"Keep trying," Paige said, "We have to get them out of there."

**--------------**

Francis stepped forward while Carter and Michael moved back. He clutched a knife in his hand. He started toward Chris when he suddenly turned to Joy. He moved closer to her and she backed against the wall.

"I suppose you heard from your disobedient friends what the three stages of this punishment were?" Joy nodded, tears glistening on her face. "Skin, metal, and finally, fire. We've already done skin. That still leaves metal and fire. Are you ready to continue the show?" Joy shook her head. He grinned. "Too bad."

Francis turned back towards Chris, the knife in his hand. Slowly, ever so slowly, he dug a long line into Chris's skin, from his shoulder to his hip. Chris screamed.

_Pain. Unbelievable pain._

Francis dug the knife into Chris's skin again. This time around he cut Chris across his stomach. Chris gasped, trying to breathe through the pain that clouded his mind.

Tears fell from Joy's eyes. She closed them, trying to block out Chris's screams.

_This is all my fault. Why did I have to be so selfish? None of this would've happened if I had just married one of the men from my world. Why did I have to drag Chris into this?_

Suddenly, Chris's screams stopped. The only sound that was left was his harsh, ragged breathing.

Joy opened her eyes to see Chris's head hanging limply on his shoulders. His shirt was reduced to rags from the many times that Francis had cut him. Blood from the cuts slid heavily down his body.

Francis stepped back and announced to the entire room, "We have now concluded Step Two. In just a moment, we shall begin and end with Step Three. But first, let's let the two lovers look at each other for a moment."

He turned to Joy. "Do you see now why you shouldn't break the law? This is all your fault, you know. If you hadn't fallen in love with him, neither of you two would be here right now."

Then he turned to Chris. "Don't you think you should've left her when you had the chance? She warned you that this would happen, but, no, you wouldn't listen to her. You had to have her. See where love has gotten you now?"

Chris locked eyes with Joy, and whispered, "I love you."

She smiled, "I love you, too."

"Enough!" the Mazging screamed, infuriated. "On with the show!"


	9. The Final Step

"Oh, my God, why...won't...it...work?" Piper said, angrily as she repeatedly tried to blast the cave open.

"Keep trying," encouraged Paige, "We've got to get in there before it's too late."

**--------**

Francis moved toward Chris one last time. He held up his empty hand. Suddenly, a ball of fire appeared in it.

Fire. The final step.

Francis placed his hand in front of Chris's bleeding skin. The fire met his skin and began to burn it. The pain that Chris felt was unimaginable. He had never felt anything like this before.

He screamed again.

Francis took his hand away. The spot where it had been on Chris's skin had turned black.

An energy ball replaced the fire in his hand.

"You see, the third step is usually the shortest, on account of the victim doesn't usually live this long. So, I give you props for lasting as long as you have. Unfortunately, this is where we say goodbye."

He reached his free hand behind him, and Joy's chains vanished. No sooner had he done this, than the unthinkable happened.

He turned to the newly released Joy and threw the energy ball at her. It hit her square in the chest, flinging her against the cave wall.

"JOY!!!"

Chris stared in amazement at what had just happened. Joy lay motionless on the ground. He couldn't see her face.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" he yelled, "SHE'S NOT WHAT YOU WANTED! WHY HER?!"

Annoyed, Francis turned back to Chris and punched him one last time around the head. Chris's chains came unhinged as he fell to the ground.

"The rules are always different for royalty. Consider yourself lucky."

He turned to the other two and they vanished in a swirl of dust. Just then, the Charmed Ones and Leo came rushing into the room. Piper had finally broken through. The sight that lay before them made them stop dead in their tracks.

"Oh, my God," Piper whispered.

She and Paige rushed over to Joy, while Leo and Phoebe knelt beside Chris.

"Let's get them back before something else happens," Paige said.

Paige and Leo orbed the group back to the manor.


	10. Wake Up

They laid Joy on Piper's bed, still stripped of sheets. Leo tried to heal her, but found he couldn't.

"She was hit by an energy ball," he told the girls. "Um, let's take Chris downstairs. He shouldn't see her like this when he wakes up. "

They carried Chris down the stairs and onto the living room couch. It was then that they saw just how serious his injuries were.

"Oh, God, what did they do to him?" Paige asked.

"I don't know, but Leo, can you heal him?"

Leo held his hands over Chris's ravaged body. Slowly, little by little, the cuts and bruises started to disappear, as did the burns.

It was a few minutes before Chris could open his eyes. When he did, he sat straight up, startling the four people around him.

Only four.

"Where's Joy?" he asked desperately, "Is she okay?"

Phoebe pointed toward the stairs. "She's in Piper's room, Chris."

Chris jumped up from the couch and ran up the stairs, then turned in the direction of Piper's room. Leo and the girls quickly followed him. He opened the door and ran inside.

Joy was still lying motionless on Piper's unmade bed. Chris ran over and dropped to his knees beside her. Her body was scorched where the energy ball had hit her.

"Joy?" He grabbed her hand. "Joy? Can you hear me?" Joy still didn't move. Tears began to fall from Chris's eyes. "Joy, please wake up. You're gonna be okay, baby. Please, can you hear me?"

Nothing.

Then he heard Piper's voice from the doorway. "Chris....she's not going to wake up. She's dead...I'm so sorry."

Chris shook his head. "No, she's not dead. She's going to wake up at any second. Leo, why didn't you heal her?"

"I tried, Chris, but I couldn't. She was already dead."

:Chris touched Joy's cheek. "Why does everybody keep saying that? You're not dead. You can't be. Joy? Why won't you wake up? Please, baby, say something."

Still, nothing happened.

Chris's voice trembled as he spoke. "Joy? Please wake up. I need you, baby. Please wake up."

"Chris, don't," Phoebe said soothingly from the doorway, "She's gone. She's dead."

"SHE IS NOT DEAD!" Chris yelled at her. Tears fell steadily from his eyes as he whispered. "She can't be."

Piper moved into the room and knelt down next to him. "I'm so sorry, Chris. We got in there as fast as we could; there was no entrance. There was some sort of enchantment surrounding the cave. I'm so sorry about Joy."

She reached out to touch his face, but he knocked her hand out of the way. "Don't...." he whispered. Then he orbed.

Piper turned to her sisters and Leo. "Guys, let's go summon Joy from the dead. Chris needs to talk to her."

They went up the stairs to the attic and began setting candles in a circle. Phoebe lit them then stood back.

Hear these words, hear my cry 

_Spirit from the other side._

_Come to me, I summon thee,_

_Cross now the great divide. _

There was a cloud of shining light orbs and suddenly, Joy appeared in front of them. Not as her human self, but a human sized fairy was standing in front of them.

"So, how did he take it?"

The other four looked at each other, then back at her. Paige answered, "You really need to go and see him. He's really shaken up. He doesn't want to believe that you're, you know, gone."

Joy nodded. "Any idea where he went?"

Leo replied, "Whenever Chris needs to think about something, he usually goes to the top of Golden Gate Bridge."

Piper said quickly, "Joy, we're so sorry that we couldn't get to you in time."

Joy shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Better me than Chris."

"You should've seen him though, Joy. He's absolutely devastated. He really needs to see you."

Joy nodded. "Thanks for everything guys. Try and help Chris as best you can." With that, she disappeared in her usual cloud of glittering dust.


	11. Love and Goodbyes

Chris sat on the top of Golden Gate Bridge, listening to the sound of cars rush below him. Tears dropped steadily from his eyes.

Joy's gone.   
Why couldn't they have taken me?   
I was ready to die.   
But...they took her instead.   
Why?   
Why would they take her away from this world?   
They were right.   
It's my fault.   
I should've left her when I had the chance.   
No...I couldn't.   
I love her more than anything.   
I never would have let her go. 

He heard wings flapping behind him.

_Probably just birds._

Then he heard her voice.

"Chris?"

He turned around and saw her, suspended in the air by her delicate transparent wings. On her head was a tiara of diamonds. She wore a long sparkling white gown. Her face, hair, and arms had touches of glitter all over them.

She looked exactly like Chris had pictured her months ago. Only more beautiful. She looked more like an angel than a fairy.

She floated forward and her bare feet touched the pole on which Chris was sitting. She bent her knees and sat down beside him. He was staring at her in amazement.

"Joy? Is it really you?"

She nodded. "I'm here, baby. I'm here." She reached out and touched his cheek. "How are you?"

He touched the hand that was on his cheek. "You're dead."

She took her hand away. "Yes. I am. The energy ball killed me."

"I'm so sorry, Joy. This is all my fault. I should've listened to you. We're not allowed to love each other. Why did we have to go and break the rules?"

"Because we love each other." Her answer was so simple, and so completely correct. They did love each other. Love is worth breaking the rules for.

"I love you, Chris, and I'm not gonna let the three assholes who ruined my world, ruin my love for you."

He reached out and touched her hair. It _was _the softest thing in the world.

"I love you, Joy, and I'm sorry if I ever doubted you."

She leaned forward and kissed him for a long time. They didn't have to worry about being seen anymore. Tears ran down their cheeks. This was goodbye.

"You're gonna be okay," she whispered. "If you ever need me, you know how to find me."

She stood up, and Chris did too. They kissed again. One last time.

When they broke apart, Joy whispered, "Look me up when you get back to the future. I have faith in you. You're gonna save the world with what you're doing."

Then she disappeared in the cloud of dust.

And Chris was left standing by himself on top of Golden Gate Bridge.

"I love you."

Forever and ever and ever.


End file.
